Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Receives “Neutral” Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $197.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $220.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $168.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.83. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $147.77 and a 1-year high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes’s stock is going to split before the market opens on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.